Insights and opinions: Pick of the posts

These are the editor’s pick of posts about public relations this week (UK focused, but with a global outlook). Recommendations are welcome to editor@prplace.comor @pr_place

Business / profession / consulting

Ella Minty: Will your online communities be there for you? (30 August)‘The more you talk and engage with people, the more likely they are to want to talk to you. Use the channels you have wisely and remember that the quality of communication is far more important than quantity of it.’

Anna McDonald: How communications differ between Canada and the UK (28 August)‘From the variations between regions across the UK to the bigger differences between Scotland and Canada, it’s key to not just understand a market, but make sure you’re speaking in its language, too.’

Careers and skills

Ross Wigham: The Art of perception: A leaf from Bob’s PR book (30 August)‘If you want an entertaining history of the PR industry you won’t be disappointed, but the book goes much further than this dispensing some fabulous advice for the current generation of professional communicators.’

David Sawyer: There’s more to midlife than crisis (30 August)‘If you’re a senior PR aged 35 to 60, this book is for you. It’s for all salaried midlife professionals who have seen their joie de vivre wane as their responsibilities, salaries and stress levels have increased. But it’s particularly applicable to PRs and marketers who’ve seen their jobs transform before their eyes over the past 10 years.’

Amanda Coleman: A lonely place (27 August)‘Being a head of communication is a lonely and pressured place but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I enjoy every minute of it (well almost!) and can see the positive difference I and the team make on a daily basis. Who wouldn’t love that?’

Marcel Klebba: Getting through the cloudy days at work (27 August)‘Whenever I get a nice email from a client or a colleague telling me how sterling job I did, I move this note right there. When a darker day comes, a quick scroll though my smiley folder always lifts my spirit.’

Measurement and evaluation

Stella Bayles with Nicole Moreo: PR measurement with AMEC [podcast] (28 August)‘When I started in this industry I was literally counting clips – pieces of paper. And then it was a huge thing that you added sentiment. Because I had an economics background I always wanted to add more data.’

Thought leadership, content and influencer marketing

Lee Devine: Want people to watch your videos? Start by listening (30 August)‘Today, it’s not about the brand that shouts loudest. It’s about the brand that listens hardest; the brand that spends less time talking about itself, and more time talking about the things that matter to its audiences.’

Will Humphrey: When did making work, work become unfashionable? (30 August)‘It feels like I’ve never been busier over the past 3-4 years, but have, conversely, created so much less work that’s made a difference than in the first 4-5 years of my career.’

Liam Thomson: 6 takeaways from The Do Lectures 2018 (29 August)‘I’m a great believer that inspiration and creative energy come from a diverse range of sources, experiences and stories. If you’re working in marketing or PR and are only going to listen to other marketers and PRs speak – you’re missing out.’

Orlagh Shanks: #IAMWOMEN: The Women I Look Up To (29 August)‘One of my favourite campaigns I worked on in the last few months of my placement was Calvin Klein’s newest fragrance, CALVIN KLEIN WOMEN.’

Internal communication

Advita Patel: Becoming an IC Trusted Adviser (29 August)‘After almost 14 years in the profession, mostly in in-house roles, I have come across some tips that you can implement to ensure that you’re seen more as a Trusted Adviser to key leaders rather than their glorified Executive Assistant.’

Stephen Welch: Organizational Communications: The icing on the cake? (28 August)‘In my view, too many organizations are in danger of creating queasy employees by adding too much central communications / icing to the mix, in an attempt to compensate for poor quality manager communications / cake.’

Dan Gerrella: GDPR and its impact on UK media so far (28 August)‘Three months on, a report by the Reuters Institute and University of Oxford has revealed the impact of GDPR on news organisations throughout Europe. It shows a significant fall in the number of third-party cookies used on websites.’

Michael White: The state of social media in 2018 (28 August)‘Broadcasters are seeing a continually fragmented audience across terrestrial TV, subscription services, and YouTube. On average people watch 29 minutes of YouTube every day, with young adults watching an hour a day.’